The world's top 11 companies for R&D

Apple has slipped in the rankings of the world's top spenders on research and development.

Apple may be considered one of the world’s most innovative companies, but the latest Global Innovation1000 report from UK consultancy Strategy& shows it only just managed to retain its position among the world’s top 20 research and development (R&D) spenders in 2016. The top spot went to Volkswagen, which spent US$13.2 billion on R&D: 5.6 per cent of its total revenues.

The report shows that total spending on R&D by the world’s 1000 largest R&D spenders amounts to US$680 billion, up from US$508 billion in 2010.